


The Ocean and the Moon

by Charity_Pines



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Not Beta Read - We Die Like Warriors, Soft boys being soft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-17
Updated: 2018-11-17
Packaged: 2019-08-24 20:21:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,204
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16647119
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Charity_Pines/pseuds/Charity_Pines
Summary: Keith had never liked the beach.It was an endless expanse of sand along the coastline, until it hit a solid rock wall. Water foamed and frothed, licking at the bank with sheets of white. It was wet. Keith had never liked how his hair would get crusty with salt, or how sand would get stuck between his toes, or how you had to slather yourself in the gross feeling of sunscreen on skin.If he was asked, there were a million things that Keith loved about it now.





	The Ocean and the Moon

Keith had never liked the beach.

It was an endless expanse of sand along the coastline, until it hit a solid rock wall. Water foamed and frothed, licking at the bank with sheets of white. It was wet. Keith had never liked how his hair would get crusty with salt, or how sand would get stuck between his toes, or how you had to slather yourself in the gross feeling of sunscreen on skin.

 

If he was asked, there were a million things that Keith loved about it now.

He had seen many suns during his space adventures, yet only a moon, hanging large and round in the velvety sky, washed the scenery with silver. The sand was soft and silky underfoot, sprinkled with luminescent gems the sparkled, tantalisingly beautiful, in the pale moonlight. Clusters of thick-trunked trees lingered on the edges, framing the gravel path that led to the small beach. Their wide leaves drifted lazily in the gentle breeze. Keith stared at the stars above him. They glittered like white sequins in the distance, close, in reach, but yet too far. He couldn’t go home yet. He had responsibilities. The ravenette heaved a sigh, and flopped into the sand. He sifted it through his hands, and caught a few loose gemstones. A ruby. An amethyst. A sapphire. He paused, holding the tiny stone between two fingers. It’s blue sheen shone ghostly pale, and only then did Keith notice the cold in the air. It passed through him, chilled him to the bone, and sent him into a slight, momentary shiver. He took another long breath, before sitting up and drawing his knees to his chest.

 

“Keith?”

The ravenette paused, the chill becoming, suddenly, like ice.

“What are you doing out here?”

He turned to face the voice. Lance was coming over, though his gaze was elsewhere. It was scanning distantly into the pin-pricked, black horizon. Quiet. Wistful.

“The same reason as you.”

Lance sat down on the sand beside him.

“Can’t sleep?” Lance murmured softly, leaning his elbows on his crossed legs.

The Black Paladin responded with a quiet ‘hmph’, to which Lance gave an airy laugh.

“What’s so funny?” Keith tried to snap, but his voice came out tired and worn.

“I don’t know,” Lance confessed, picking at the sand. “It’s just… none of this feels real.”

The cuban boy rolled a ruby in his palm, before letting it slide off the tip of his finger into the sand.

Keith snuck a glance to the side. Lance looked  _ drained _ ; dark circles hung under his dull, blue eyes and his usually well-kept hair was mussed and knotty. Even so, he wore a dreary smile that only made him seem sadder. Keith began counting Lance’s freckles in the silence.

“It’s ethereal,” Said the brunette at last, inspecting a shard of rose quartz. “I thought, since we’re so far, we’d never get to see it again. The trees, I mean. Sand, ocean.”

Keith hunched his shoulder, curling inwards on himself even more, and nodded slightly in response.

“I… get it. I get what you mean.”

The sky seemed bleak that night, Keith decided.

“Do you miss the desert?” Lance asked, plucking up the ruby again.

 

Keith thought back to his days before Voltron. Scurrying around the desert like a rat, running desperately through heavy terrain that sucked at his feet and ate at his stamina. Burning hot days that bit at his skin and hungry coyotes that only wanted to be fed. Blinding, desert-sand yellow and painfully bright blue skies. The soft darkness of the setting now seemed like a blessing in comparison.

“No,” He mumbled quietly. “I don’t miss it.”

Lance frowned, “Why?”

“There isn’t anything there for me anymore.”

Lance’s brows knitted together in contemplative sympathy. Keith’s heart clenched painfully in his chest.

“You miss Earth, don’t you?” Keith had intended for his voice to sound a little more forceful, but it came out sad and low; forlorn.

Lance’s smile drooped, and he let the gemstones drop from his hands.

“Yeah,” he muttered, “Yeah, I do. I miss everything about it. I miss home.”

The Red Paladin drew a deep breath, shoulders shuddering.

“I miss my mama, papa. My sisters, my brothers, my nieces, my nephews. I want home.” The cuban boy stood up, kicking up some sand as he wandered over to the edge of the water. “There was a beach, you know. At home. I miss it. So, so much.”

Keith pulled himself up as well, but remained decisively stationary.

“We would go swimming all the time, you know? Try and catch the fish with our bare hands,” Lance gave a hollow chuckle, “I miss them, Keith.”

Ocean-blue eyes met his own indigo orbs, and Keith’s heart broke.

“Don’t you miss Shiro?” Lance’s voice broke. “He’s missing.”

Keith’s breath caught painfully in his lungs, but he forced the words through.

“I miss him,” He managed, and Lance seemed shocked that he was choking up a little. “I do. But it could be a lot worse than it is.”

 

Lance mused on this for a while, rolling up the cuffs of his jeans to wade a little further into the ocean. Waves over his ankles. Soft, yet threatening. Keith leaned down and picked up a small sapphire. It glittered, melancholy, under the sky.

“I love the ocean.” Keith heard Lance say.

Whether those words were meant for him or not no longer mattered.

“Hey, Lance.” The ravenette called.

“Hm?”

A shove, a screech, and a few scattered splashes.

“Keith-! What the  _ heck _ , man?” Lance shrieked, from his knee-deep placement in the water.

The ravenette only snickered from the bank.

“ _ Why _ ?” Lance screeched again, scaring a few strange birds awake.

Keith felt himself smile weakly, “You seemed sad. What, you want an apology?”

Lance squawked indignantly, scrabbling for his feet in the tossy water, “ _ Yes _ , actually!”

Keith scowled playfully, and then cleared his throat.

“Very well,” Keith started, “Lance McClain, the clouds to my sky, the ocean to my moon, the sapphire to my ruby,” Keith smirked, dramatically bowing from the bank. “Please accept my humblest apology.”

 

“Not good enough!” Lance howled, lunging forward and grabbing Keith around the shoulders.

“Wh- Lance,  _ no _ !” Keith hissed like an angered cat as he crashed, full-body, into the waves.

“How’s it feel, Kogane?” The Red Paladin cackled gleefully, a few metres from Keith’s tragic descent.

“Cold, and wet,” The former sniffed indignantly. “Water isn’t my element.”

Lance cackled again, and Keith couldn’t help but feel a weight lift off his shoulders.

The blue gemstone felt warm in his pocket.

* * *

 

 

“What the heck happened to you two?” Pidge raised a brow, as the two boys entered the lounge area, thoroughly soaked and tracking water through the halls.

It was just past sunrise. They had been gone for hours. Not that Allura was awake to worry.

“The idiot pushed me into the water,” Lance huffed.

“Hey! You were the one who was being stupid!” Keith retorted hotly.

They shoved each other into walls as they continued down the corridors of the Castleship.

Pidge spotted a disdainful-looking Hunk across the room, chewing some space goo. He met her gaze, and they shared a mutual eye-roll.

_ Yeah, definitely idiots. _

**Author's Note:**

> a


End file.
